Our Story (Skinny version)

Well, hello there.

We know you're busy, so here's the skinny on who we are.

We're Meagan & James.Together, we're the Brogans.

James is from Wyoming, I (Meagan) hail from New Hampshire. We met at school in Hawai'i and lived there for 10 years, and started Shutter Force Photography together in 2014. We started shooting weddings in 2015.

Our Origin Story

(The long version - For the readers out there)

Our passion for photography comes from an innate desire to experience and share stories.

Here's ours.

James was born and raised in Wyoming. Meagan (that's me) was born and raised in New Hampshire. In 2005, we both enrolled in the National Student Exchange program at our universities (UW and URI, respectively) and winged away to the University of Hawai'i - Manoa on O'ahu to study somewhere new and tropical. Our love story starts there, but takes us many places around the world.

James asked me to take the plunge (after 5.5 years together- phew!) and then we had a long engagement. We didn't want to rush a good thing! (Sorry, parents) We were married in 2012 on the incredible island of St. Lucia in the lesser Antilles. In the ruins of a pirate fort. Yup. Pirates. We're adventurers, and we're also nerds. Well, one of us is. No costumes were involved, but there was a treasure chest, old books, compasses and spyglasses as part of the wedding day decor. There were steel drums, dancing, jerk chicken and the most amazing people partying with us late into the night. Wish lanterns were launched over the gorgeous beach after sunset. Followed by more dancing.

"A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having." -V for Vendetta

Our wedding was a bad-ass party that was a perfect expression of the two of us coming together as one. It was just what we were going for when we decided what kind of wedding we wanted. Photography had always been a massive part of our lives and we knew we wanted a certain type of photographer to document the adventure. So we brought one with us from Hawai'i, an incredible guy who doesn't typically shoot weddings... but takes amazing portraits and really knows how to truly capture a moment. Sam Wrightgave us exactly what we wanted, a visual story full of life, a sense of place and time, and the images transport us directly back to how we felt that awesome day, every time we look at them.

We didn't know it at the time, but this experience for us would shape our future down the road. Our own love for the craft of photography began to develop and we traveled as much as possible to explore this art, and eat good food. Obv. Thailand, Norway, Mexico, Greece, England, throughout the Hawaiian islands and across the US. We studied photography in online courses and in hands-on workshops like with incredible photographers like The Giving Lens, Colby Brown,Kate Mulliganand Jay and Varina Patel. And then... a friend asked us to shoot their wedding.

As it often happens in this industry, the first wedding was a make it or break it event. We knew we'd either love it or... immediately retreat to landscapes and travel imagery. Drumroll... WE HAD A BLAST. It was a tremendous opportunity to be creative, working at a furious pace, all synapses firing for 12 hours straight. At the end: we were exhausted, a little overwhelmed but intoxicated with the rush of a day where we felt like this is what we should be doing. I love the interaction with all the guests, getting to experience the joy of the day alongside them, getting to feel like family. James loves sneaking time in for all the details, capturing beautiful images of what makes each couple unique. We both live for the ability to stealthily capture moments unfolding that are meaningful, intimate and well crafted. A wedding day is a special kind of animal, where even the best laid plans can take another route entirely. The excitement and exhilaration that is unique to each event provides the footprint for a lifetime story to take place, condensed into one day. Being tasked with the honor to tell such an epic story is a great responsibility. One we strive to do justice to with every click of the shutter, with every hour post-processing, with every communication to our couples. Turns out, there are loads of couples just like us who want something different from their weddings, and their photographers. They are adventurers like us, choosing unique venues the world over that give us a chance to blend our travel photography background with our flexibility and infectious optimism. We're looking for just those kind of people to share their marriage adventure with.

We're now living in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. For more on that story, you'll have to ask us in person. Short answers: We are loving the desert life, yes, we miss the ocean, but holy cow are we obsessed with the southwest and particularly the mountains of nearby southern Colorado. Getting the chance to build our wedding photography business with the beautiful Albuquerque area as our home base is a another dream coming true for us.

So there's our origin story. As with any good tale, the details are best told in person, over good food and yummy drinks. It's how we usually like to meet to our future clients, sitting down with craft beers at a New Mexican brewery, talking story and discovering what their dream wedding is all about - and how we can work to preserve that magic for all the future retellings.

If you're in the process of planning your #bestdayever and want to see if we're the right storytellers for you - reach out. Shoot us an email. Give us a call/text or fill out our contact form. Let's plan to meet up (we can Skype/Facetime too!), and begin the process to craft your epic event, together.